Africa Beyond (www.bbc.co.uk/africabeyond) (www.myspace.com/africabeyond) presents an evening at the Southbank Centre in celebration of the London Literature Festival. 'Talking In Tongues' brings together the finest London-based writers and performers of African origin incorporating poetry, spoken-word, music and dance.

After a sell-out show at the Africa Centre in February (www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LJlLty32D4), Africa Beyond favourites Breis (writer and hip-hop artist), Christina Oshunniyi (performer and choreographer) and Dele Sosimi (Afrobeat musician and musical director), will be performing their popular 'Ife' piece, a Yoruba-infused collaboration from the 'Translations' series.

Fresh from tours of his two solo poetry shows, Charlie Dark, (Attica Blues/Blacktronica) presents his new project 'The Bass Poet' a melting pot of lyricism, music and social commentary.

Poet and artist Ebele will showcase an extract from her innovative creative project 'WomaniFunkHerDeliQa', expressing her Igbo roots.

Also introducing Inua Ellams author of the critically acclaimed 'Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales' with a selection of new work.

For the month of May, AWE presents Robyn Scott, who after a childhood spent in an isolated wilderness in Botswana, followed by boarding school in Zimbabwe, went on to study Biosciences - then became an author. Intrigued? Well, Robyn's memoir Twenty Chickens for a Saddle, which is published by Bloomsbury this month, might help unravel some of the mysteries. The book will be featured as BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week in the second week of May, but you can joinAWE on Thursday May 22, 2008 to hear the author herself read from the book and answer audience questions. The event will be hosted as usual by Ghanaian author, Nii Ayikwei Parkes and there will be floor spots from some of the emerging African writers on the UK scene.

Also, mark your calendars for June 12 - African Writers' Evening has its big night out at the Royal Festival Hall.

AUTHOR BIO:

Born in 1981, Robyn Scott was raised in a converted cowshed in the wilds of Botswana, where her grandfather had been pilot for Seretse Khama, Botswana's first president. At fourteen, she started her formal education in a boarding school in Zimbabwe. Moving to New Zealand for her undergraduate degree, she completed a BSc in Bioinformatics at the University of Auckland then won a Gates Scholarship to Cambridge University in 2004, where she took an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise and studied the pricing of medicines in developing countries. Twenty Chickens For a Saddle, her first book, has been described as an uplifting, engaging and deeply affectionate portrayal of an extraordinary place and family. Robyn lives in London, but visits and works regularly in southern Africa.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Sunday 13.04.08: International Futures

13 April at 6.00pmINTERNATIONAL FUTURESpresented by Nii Ayikwei Parkes International Futures gets right to the heart of International PEN's work, celebrating the great writers you know and the great writers you don't. Compere Nii Parkes is a Ghanaian novelist and performance poet who has previously been a BBC Radio 3 Associate Writer-in-Residence. Mohamed Magani, an Algerian novelist and short story writer, was recently touted by Vanity Fair as one of Maghrebian literature's most prominent voices, Niki Aguirre is a short story writer hailed as having a devastatingly sharp eye, with hints of Borges' craft and Palestinian Selma Dabbagh's work has been shortlisted for the Fish International Short Story and David Wong Short Story Prizes. In association with PEN International Magazine.